Craig Monson

Book excerpt: Every bodybuilding fan knows about the "Golden Age" of the sport. But, there is a forgotten legend from that fabled time. An OG of street and stage, Craig Monson outweighed Arnold by 40 pounds, dwarfed Lee Haney and had superior aesthetics. A mass-monster with Michelangelo-like symmetry, Monson was that rare mixture of form and functional strength. Now his story AND his workouts can be told, shared, and understood. Born in the Jim Crow South, Craig was taken by his mother on a Greyhound bus exodus to the land of sun-kissed beaches and Hollywood dreams. A world away from the Pacific Ocean, Craig came of age in Los Angeles' inner city. In this urban environment, Monson found street heroes and became one himself by founding the notorious gang "The Avenues" (a forerunner to the infamous Crip gang). Realities of life in South Central Los Angeles eventually landed Craig in some of the most feared penitentiaries. Inside of the system, Monson built his body into a mountain of muscle and, upon his release, set his sights on bodybuilding glory. Training across the Southland and putting on spectacles of strength at the renowned Muscle Beach, Craig became the biggest and strongest bodybuilder of the 1980s. Learn about his mythic journey from urban streets to the bodybuilding stage! Follow the exact training programs utilized by the legendary Craig Monson!